March 17, 2008

Liblog: Photoshoot

We were told there was to be a photoshoot on Saturday morning. We have lots of different choir gear and we had to bring in it in our bags, along with the other essentials we need (PSPs, gameboys, MP3 players, decks of cards and some pretend homework).

The studios were in Fulham. We had a quick journey across London as it was early. The studios were big and colourful. On arrival some had to change into black hoodies, some into white. I took my hoodies out. They were neatly folded when they went in the bags, but had somehow got all creased. It must’ve been the weight of the pretend homework. Luckily there were dressers, who are people with irons, who ironed the clothes. The photographer (a nice man) was ready and so were we. We posed and we smiled. And smiled. We smiled all morning. We were photographed standing on big blocks and smiling, then we got changed into coloured long-sleeved sweatshirts over which we wore checked shirts, and we smiled in those. Then we stood on a big board and tried to look casual. "Look casual… And smile!"

Then… Lunch! Now that made me smile. Pizza! One each! Or nearly one each – Tom’s didn’t arrive, so we all gave him some of ours. After lunch we got changed again, this time into our robes, so we could smile in those. More photographs! Then we were all photographed individually, striking poses, jumping in the air and just larking about. And smiling while we posed and jumped and larked about. (We are all good at larking about. I think I might be the best there is at it.)

We got changed again and then we were all shot together sitting on a sofa and smiling, standing behind the sofa and smiling, or lying in front of the sofa and smiling, and then… Bundle! All the Libera boys trying to fit onto one sofa! The photographer clicked away as we all fell off.

The final shots were taken with some of us on a horse, a gym horse, that is. We jumped on it and smiled, and fell off and smiled. There was a ladder there, but we had become so good at falling off things that the ladder was replaced by a chair so we fell off that instead and smiled.

The shoot was finished! We smiled goodbye and thank you, and got in the coach. London traffic was much heavier than it had been earlier, and it took forever to get back to Norbury. We had all had a laugh but smiling now felt weird. In fact, it hurt to smile. My mouth just wanted to droop down.